


Going Somewhere

by Rosalind_or_Ganymede



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bitty and Jack are engaged, Eventual Happy Ending, Future Fic, Lots of awkwardness, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, a bit of homophobia, kind of an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-09-30 16:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17227805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosalind_or_Ganymede/pseuds/Rosalind_or_Ganymede
Summary: After an unpleasant trip home, Bitty becomes estranged with his family. Now, six years later he's engaged, and his parents have come to visit.





	1. Chapter 1

“Okay, deep breath,” Bitty mumbled to himself as he checked his watch for the tenth time that minute. “It’ll be fine. Or maybe it won’t be, but it’s happening, and that’s… good.” He mentally ran through his checklist. The bed in the guest bedroom had been made with fresh sheets, the house was spotless, there was a pie (well, pies; he may have stress baked enough to feed a small village last night) cooling on the rack in the kitchen, the bread dough was rising, the chicken was in the fridge, and he was at the airport waiting to pick up his parents and trying his best not to run away. 

A hand fell on his shoulder. “Bud?” Bitty felt his shoulders relax. Thank God for Jack. He leaned into his fiance.  
“I’m alright, sweetheart,” Bitty sighed “Just a bit…”  
“Yeah,” Jack said “Me too.” Bitty looked up at him. Jack was scanning the crowd slowly making their way towards the baggage claim. He was smiling, but Bitty could see a bit of tension in his jaw. He let his hand wander to the small of Jack’s back.  
“We’ll be alright. It’s only my parents. It’s just been a while.”  
Jacked hummed in agreement. “Anything I can do for you right now?”  
Bitty shook his head “Just be you, darling, that always seems to help.” He was leaning his head against Jack’s shoulder, when he spotted a familiar couple weaving through the crowd. He snapped to attention, unconsciously putting space between himself and Jack. “They’re here.” 

\----- 

It was the last week of summer, and Georgia was boiling. Bitty had been hit with the wave of heat the minute he stepped out of the airport. He held up a hand against the sun and scanned the parking lot for his father. After a minute, he saw him, raising a hand on the other side of the street, where people were being picked up by family and friends. Bitty tightened his hold on the handle of his suitcase, steeled his nerves, and crossed the street. 

The drive home from the airport was silent. Bitty desperately wanted to pull his phone out and call Jack, Shitty, Lardo, any of his friends for help. But he settled for leaning back and looking out the window, hands fidgeting with his jeans. Coach was looking straight ahead at the road, jaw set. Bitty wished his Mama had picked him up. At least then, he thought, perhaps there would have been some perfunctory small talk about the latest family news, the weather, his new haircut. Mama never did like silence. But Coach was perfectly happy to sit and wait for others to speak, and there was only one topic Bitty could think of. Finally, he cleared his throat. 

“Sorry I haven’t been home in a while” He said. His voice sounded tinny in his ears. Coach just shrugged.  
“You’ve had a lot on your plate.” And that was it. Bitty tried to find something else to say, but his mind was blank. They settled back into an uneasy silence that lasted until they got home. Coach unloaded his suitcase while Bitty greeted his Mama. She gave him a quick hug and welcomed him in, shooing him up to his room to relax before dinner.  
“You’ve had a long day,” she said dismissively when he offered to help her with whatever was making the scent wafting out of the kitchen “Lay down for a bit, I’ll call you when it’s ready.” 

The trip was a bit stilted, with Mama filling the silence a little more desperately than usual, but it would have been almost normal, if he could have baked. But for the entire week, whenever he tried to help his mother bake something, she made an excuse or set him some chore or another that kept him out of the kitchen. His last morning there, he crept down early to make breakfast. While he was pouring pancake batter onto the griddle, his mother came in and started making herself coffee. She watched him carefully while he was flipping the pancakes. 

“Judy said,” she started, then stopped herself and looked down at her coffee. Bitty plated the pancakes, then turned to face her, waiting for her to finish. She laughed humorlessly “Well, it doesn’t matter what Judy said, you know how she is. But dicky… You know I love you, and I’m happy for you and… for everything you’ve got going on, but… Is it because of me?”  
Bitty wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that “What?” He asked, a bubble of anxiety forming in his stomach. 

“This, this lifestyle,” Bitty felt that word like a knife “is it because of the stuff I let you do as a kid? You’re daddy was never sure about the figure skating and the baking, but I thought it was harmless enough. It didn’t-”  
“Mama.” Bitty worked to keep the tears out of his eyes “Mama there’s no reason. I just am.” He wanted to say more than that, but he couldn’t talk around the lump in his throat. Finally, he managed one word: “Sorry.” 

Suzanne waved her hand “No, don’t be, Dicky. I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sure what she was sorry for. He was afraid to ask. She smiled at him, not fully meeting his eyes, then placed her mug on the counter and clapped her hands together “Why don’t you go set the table,” she said in an overly cheery tone “and I’ll see about some bacon and eggs to go with these pancakes?” 

Later that day, Coach drove Bitty back to the airport in silence. When they got there, he unloaded Bitty’s suitcase and clapped him on the back.  
“Have a good semester, son.” He said awkwardly. Bitty nodded. Coach paused, like he wanted to say something else. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he sighed and said “Tell your… Tell your friend to keep up the good work, yeah? Tell him hi from me.” 

It took Bitty a moment to figure out that the friend his dad was referring to was Jack. He picked up his suitcase. “Sure. See you.” He said, and walked to the airport as fast as he could. He rushed through security, and the minute he was in the airport, he ran to the bathroom and cried. 

After that visit, Bitty found himself talking to his parents less and less. He went home for holidays, at first, but eventually, that stopped to, and they never made an effort to come up to see him. He moved in with Jack after graduation, started a new job, got a promotion, moved with Jack, proposed to Jack, and before he knew it, two years had passed since he had even texted his Mama. He had barely noticed until one night, shortly after he had proposed to Jack, when he saw a comment from her on his Instagram post with a picture of their rings. It simply said “Beautiful. Congratulations, sweetheart!” but it was enough to get him to reach out. Enough for a few stilted phone calls and an only slightly reluctant invitation to Providence. And now, here they were, standing in the airport, looking lost. Bitty looked at Jack. 

“You can do this,” Jack reassured him. He nodded, lacing his fingers with his fiance’s, then turned back towards the baggage claim and plastered a smile on his face. Too late to run now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bitty gets fed up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tense family stuff ahead.

“Mama!” Bitty said, walking forward with what he hoped was an easy smile while he kept a death grip on Jack’s hand, “Daddy! Gosh, it’s good to see you!”  
“Dicky, honey, how are you?” His mama enveloped him in a hug, not waiting for an answer before she continued, rambling into his shoulder. “Oh, honey, you can’t believe how much we missed you. It’s been too long-how long has it been? I can’t even imagine. You know, I was talking to Cheryl- oh, you remember Cheryl, sweetheart, she works at the grocery store on Central- and she was talking about an article she had read about your… your Jack,” here she faltered for a moment, then masked by reaching out to hug Jack “Hi there, sweetheart. Good to see you again. But as I was saying, Cheryl showed me this article, and there you were! A picture of my Dicky in People magazine of all the places! Well, I just couldn’t believe how old you looked. Doesn’t he look grown up, honey?” The last part was directed at Bitty’s father, who nodded and smiled at Bitty. 

“Hi Junior”  
“Hi, Coach.” Suzanne gave Jack another hug, sweeping him into a conversation as they walked towards the exit, leaving Bitty with Coach.  
“So,” he said into the silence “How are things at home?”  
“Not bad. We’ve missed having you around.”  
“Right.” They lapsed back into silence. After what felt like forever, Coach said “And how are things up here.” 

“Oh, you know.” Bitty said lamely, then realized that of course, his father didn’t know. They hadn’t spoken in nearly two years. “It’s been good” he tried again “Work keeps me busy, and we just got settled in the new house, which is nice. Jack’s away a lot for work, but Shi- um, my friends live nearby, so I’m never lonely for long.” 

Coach nodded “I’ve seen some of that in your twitters”  
“Tweets” Bitty corrected absently, then paused “You follow my twitter?” His father shrugged.  
“I like to know where you’re at.”  
“Oh.” Bitty had never really thought about Coach checking in on him. The thought was comforting. They walked the rest of the way to the car in silence. When they got there, Jack helped load the bags and slipped into the driver’s seat, nodded along to something Suzanne was saying. While she was climbing into the car, he shot Bitty a wry smile. Bitty mouthed an apology, then climbed into the back with his father. The ride back was filled with conversation. Bitty and his mama had always had an easy time filling space, and apparently that hadn’t changed. At one point, the conversation faltered, when he asked about the extended family and Aunt Judy’s jam. His mama grew quiet for a minute, then said “Oh, that’s not important right now, I want to hear about how you are. What have you been up to?” Aside from that, they spoke freely. The one topic they didn’t touch was that of the matching rings he and Jack were wearing. Bitty tried once or twice to bring it up, at least to get them to actually talk about the very gay elephant in the room, but his Mama seemed determined to talk about anything but that. By the time they went to bed that night, Bitty was thoroughly frustrated. 

“It’s like she thinks we can just ignore it.” He hissed to Jack as they got ready for bed that night. “She doesn’t like that I’m gay, so no one’s allowed to talk about it.”  
“I think she’s trying, bud,” Jack said as he slipped on a worn Samwell shirt. Bitty scoffed.  
“Please. Did you see how fast she changed the topic when I brought up the wedding?”  
“That was rough.”  
“Rough? It was disastrous.” Bitty collapsed on the bed, not bothering to pull back the covers. Jack sat down next to him and pulled him to his chest. Bitty let himself be hugged, trying not to cry. “I’m sorry,” he said “She just made me feel like a scared twenty year old again and I’m past that. I’m so far past that. I hate that I have to feel like I’m in the closet again.” 

“I hate it, too. I hate seeing you so uncomfortable.” Jack rubbed Bitty’s back, leaning back against the headboard. Bitty closed his eyes. 

“I was kind of hoping she’d want to help plan things,” he said “I always thought she would. When I was younger… I remember going to my cousin’s wedding when I was little, and seeing all the family pitching in. I guess I just assumed that I would have that, too. But if she won’t even talk to me about it, I don’t know what I can do.” 

Jack sighed. “Maybe we can try to talk to them in the morning. I’m sure things will get better from here.” 

“Yeah,” Bitty said “maybe.” 

\--

Things weren’t better in the morning. Suzanne blushed and stuttered when Bitty and Jack came out of the same room (“like she didn’t see us go into the same room last night. Anyway, this is our house. What was she expecting?” Bitty ranted to Jack later that day), and Coach remained mostly silent, only breaking out of his shell briefly to Jack about an upcoming game. 

“How long are they staying again?” Bitty whispered to Jack in the hallway after his mother blocked his attempt to talk about the wedding for the umpteenth time.  
“Maybe a bit too long.” Jack looked over his shoulder as if he was afraid Suzanne would be there “They’re your family, so obviously I love them, but this is…”  
“Ridiculously tense?” Bitty finished. Jack smiled and nodded. “I’m sorry, sweetpea.”  
“Nothing to apologize for. We’ll get through this.” They went back to the living room, and Jack managed to strike up a conversation with Coach, leaving Suzanne to continue nervously flitting from subject to subject. 

Finally in the afternoon, after Suzanne called Jack Bitty’s “special friend” (“Really?” He mouthed to Jack), Bitty couldn’t take it anymore. With a silent apology to Jack, he excused himself to run to the grocery store. Jack looked absolutely terrified, and Bitty vowed to pay him back. He felt better the moment he got into the car, putting physical distance between him and his family. He plugged in his phone and turned on some music. 

He was halfway to the store when his phone rang. He answered and put it on speaker, keeping his eyes ahead of him.  
“Hello,” he said, half expecting Jack on the other end of the call.  
“I hear you’re avoiding your family?” Bitty smiled.  
“Hey Lardo. Did Jack text you?”  
“Yeah,” Lardo’s voice crackled over the car’s speakers, “He said you could probably use some moral support.”  
“Lord, that man is too good for me.”  
“Normally I’d disagree with you, but did you really leave him alone with the inlaws? That’s cold, Bits. I’d probably kill Shitty if he did that to me.”  
“Shitty wouldn’t do that.”  
“Not the point.” 

“I know, I’ll make it up to him,” Bitty sighed “I just had to get out of there for a bit.”  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing, really.” Bitty pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car, letting his forehead rest against the steering wheel for a minute “It’s just killing me that mama won’t acknowledge that Jack and I are together. And Coach has been doing his whole stoic routine, which doesn’t help things. I can’t tell how he feels about anything.”  
“At least there hasn’t been a big blow up or anything.”  
“Honestly, at this point I think I might prefer that. This is exactly how it was six years ago. We just didn’t talk about it. At least, not in a way that was helpful.”  
“Sounds like you’ve just gotta be straight with them, Bitty. Tell them how you feel.”  
“Yeah,” Bitty grabbed his phone and his wallet and headed for the store “I just wish I knew how. But enough of my drama. How are you?” 

Bitty talked with Lardo until he got home, and by the end he felt much better. He still had his parents to deal with, but at least his friends were by his side. 

That night after dinner, he approached his mother in the living room. 

“Hey Mama,” he said as he sat down next to her, “how’s the pie?”  
“Delicious, Dicky! You’re going to have to give me the recipe for this one.” Bitty smiled. 

“Thanks.” He fidgeted with his ring “Mama,” he said “I’ve been wanting to ask you-”  
“Should I load up the dishwasher?”  
“What?” He asked. His mother was already standing up, holding her plate like it was a shield “No, that’s alright. I was actually hoping we could talk about-” 

Suzanne turned to her husband “Honey, are you done with your plate.” Bitty clenched his teeth.  
“Mama.” Suzanne stopped and looked at him “Stop that.”  
“Stop what?” She asked. Bitty stood.  
“Stop cutting me off whenever I try to talk to you. Stop acting like Jack and I are ‘just good friends.’ ”  
“Oh, that’s ridiculous, I’m not-”  
“You are.” Bitty’s voice cracked. “Mama, I invited you here because I want you to be a part of my life, but that can only happen if you want to be involved in every part of my life. If you can’t do that, then- then I can’t have you around.” 

“Dicky…” His mother looked so heartbroken, Bitty almost regretted what he had said. Almost. His father stood up.  
“Now, son, don’t talk to your mother that-” 

“Daddy, all due respect, but this is my house, and I’ve been not talking about this for so long, I think I deserve to now.” He turned back to his mother, hands shaking. 

“I want you to be in my life. I want you to help me with my wedding. But if I have to avoid speaking about an entire aspect of my life whenever I’m around you, I’m not sure it’s worth it. I’m gay, and I’m always going to be, and if you can’t handle that-” Bitty broke off in a dry sob, just as the bathroom door creaked shut down the hall. Jack came into the living room, stopping when he saw Bitty standing opposite his parents, shaking like a leaf. 

“What happened?” 

The Bittles all looked at each other. Coach was frowning, Suzanne had tears quietly streaming down her face, and Bitty wanted nothing more than to smile and tell them it was alright, he was just kidding, they didn’t have to be upset. But he wasn’t. Jack looked at Bitty, and seemed to understand what had happened. He stood behind him, silently offering his support. Suzanne sat down, hard, and looked at her knees. Coach looked at her, then looked at Bitty. For a moment, Bitty thought he was going to yell, then he just turned and walked towards the door. 

Bitty started to turn away, then his father stopped and looked over his shoulder.  
“Come on, junior,” he said “let’s go for a walk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, there may be some slight projecting going on here. 
> 
> Wow, I actually wrote some more. I honestly wasn't expecting this, but I felt weirdly motivated today, so here we are. I might go back and edit this a bit later
> 
> Next up: Bitty talks to his father and we see things from Jack's perspective. 
> 
> Thanks to the people who left kudos and comments, you made my day:)


	3. Chapter 3

Bitty pulled on his coat in silence. He looked back at Jack from the door, and his fiance nodded encouragingly. Suzanne was still sitting on the couch, head down. Bitty didn’t want to consider the fact that she was probably crying. He almost said something, then he saw his father standing on the sidewalk outside, waiting. Bitty left the house, closing the door behind him. He wondered Coach was looking up and down the street like he was weighing his options. When Bitty reached him, he turned to the left and started walking.

Bitty and Coach walked side by side in silence. After a minute, Bitty could hardly bear the tension he felt. After five minutes, he was ready to start pulling out his own hair. He dug his hands into his pockets to keep from fidgeting and watched his breath come out in clouds, illuminated by street lamps. 

“It’s cold.” He said lamely, a desperate attempt to start a conversation, but his father just nodded and kept walking. Finally, they reached a little park with a few benches, and Coach stopped. 

“Let’s sit.” He said softly. Bitty followed him to the nearest bench. Coach sat down stiffly and looked out over the darkened park. He coughed into his sleeve. He adjusted himself on the bench. Bitty waited impatiently. Then, not looking at Bitty, Coach said “The day you were born was the happiest day in my life.” Bitty didn’t move. Coach smiled at the memory and leaned back “I was terrified of being a father. Suzanne and I were so young then— younger than you are— and I didn’t have a single idea what I was doing. There had been nine months of worrying, and your Mama keeping cool while I panicked over every little thing” Bitty laughed in spite of himself, and his father chuckled “I know, it’s usually the other way around, but it’s true. I was a nervous wreck. And then, after all that worry, there you were. You were so small, I could almost hold you in one hand. I didn’t, of course. You looked so fragile. But I could have.” Coach tilted his head upwards and paused over his next words. “It was like… I don’t know how to put this.” He kept looking up, like he was waiting for the right words to fall out of the sky. Bitty waited, too. Finally, Coach seemed to find what he wanted to say. “It was like the instant I held you, everything got… got clear. Clearer, at any rate. I still didn’t know what I was doing, or how I was going to do it, but I knew the why behind it. And that’s important. That’s just about all you need. Well, anyway,” Coach cleared his throat, “That first time I held you, you grabbed my finger with your little hand, and I started bawling like I was the baby, which got your mother started, which sent you wailing. We were a mess, even then, I suppose.” Bitty laughed again, eyes watery. Coach continued “I remember, though; there was so much love in that room.” He looked down at his hands. Bitty breathed slow, measured breaths. He felt like the moment might break if he didn’t. 

“Junior,” his father started, then stopped himself and thought. “Son,” he tried again “what I’m trying to say here, is that kind of love doesn’t go away. It holds on forever, you know? And your mother and I feel that love towards you. Always have. I’m sorry if you thought we didn’t.” Bitty was fighting real tears now, and his breathing grew more and more ragged. 

“Daddy, I don’t—” He started, but his father cut him off.

“Hold on. Let me say my piece,” he said solemnly, “Now, we acted badly when you first… After we found out the way that we did. We didn’t address it, and then after a while, it was just easier not to reach out. And I’m sorry for that, I truly am. If I could do it again… well, no point going down that road, is there.” Coach turned so he was fully facing Bitty “But don’t you think for an instant that that love we feel for you ever went away” he said fiercely “because it never did.” He smiled. “I know I’m not the most talkative person. But always know that I’m proud. Incredibly proud.” Bitty saw tears in his father’s eyes, and he couldn’t hold back anymore. He reached out and hugged Coach tight. 

“Thank you,” he managed to choke out, “thank you.” 

Coach cleared his throat and patted Bitty awkwardly on the back. When Bitty pulled away, he looked tired, like he had just expended a year’s worth of speech and emotion in one night. He probably had, Bitty mused. “Right,” Coach said “right, well, that’s that then. And son?” 

“Yeah?” 

 

“If I ever say something that… If I hurt you, or your mama hurts you, you let us know, okay? It’s about time we learned. It’s past time, actually, but I’m hoping you can forgive us for that. We’d love to be part of your life, if you’ll have us.” 

Bitty smiled. “I do. I definitely do.” 

Coach nodded “I’m not going to pretend this fixes everything. Not even close. There are bridges we have to rebuild, on both sides, and I’m sure we’ll make more mistakes, but, well…” 

Coach seemed suddenly lost, like he’d used up all the words he had in him. Bitty reached out and put his arms around his father’s neck. He hugged him, really hugged him, and closed his eyes. “It’s a start,” he said.  
\---  
Jack waited until the door was closed to turn around and look at Suzanne. She was sitting on the couch with her hands folded in her lap and tears streaming down her cheeks. He took a step forward, then stopped and reconsidered. Instead of going to Suzanne, he opted to give her some space, scooping up the dishes from the coffee table and taking them to the kitchen. He rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher, put away the food, wiped down the counters, and started to put on a pot of coffee, then after a second thought and a glance at the clock, started water for tea, instead. He waited in the kitchen for it to boil. When it was ready, he poured a mug and took it to the living room. Suzanne was still sitting in the same position he had left her in. She looked up when he offered the tea. 

“Thank you,” she said hoarsely. Jack nodded. He sat down across from her. Silence settled between them. Jack resisted the urge to nervously tap his foot. His heart quickened, and he slowed his breathing to calm himself. He could do this. His face felt like it was burning.He wished he could think of something to say. Eric’s mom was staring into her mug. Suddenly she looked up at him. Her eyes were red. 

“I don’t understand,” she said “What did I do wrong?” Jack opened his mouth, then closed it again. She studied him, then nodded, and looked back into her mug, like his silence had said all she needed to hear. Jack sighed. He could do this. 

“Mrs. Bittle,” he started, and she waved her hand. 

“Please,” she said “call me Suzanne.” 

“Suzanne,” Jack amended, “I don’t think you did anything wrong, exactly, but Eric needs you- has needed you, and you haven’t been there. Even now.” 

“He hasn’t exactly reached out.” 

“Would you have been there if he did?” 

 

“Of course I…” She looked lost “Does he think I wouldn’t have?” 

Jack took a deep breath “I know the way you reacted after he came out hurt him.” 

“The way I reacted? He didn’t give me a chance to react!” 

“Really?” Suzanne closed her mouth. Jack thought carefully about what he was going to say next. He didn’t want to be having this conversation; it felt wrong, without Eric there. But, he reminded himself, this was for Eric. For Bits. Most things he did were. He wished he could figure out a way of conveying that to Suzanne. That he loved her son more than anything else in this world, that they were okay. But things like that had never been his strong suit. So he sat, holding his mug of tea, and hoped that she would be able to figure it out. Suzanne looked away, chewing on her lip. If only he could find the words. Thankfully, Suzanne found them for him. She swallowed and said “You love my son?” Jack nodded. “You two are… You make eachother happy?” Jack nodded again. Suzanne looked ready to cry, but she smiled “That’s all I want. Really. This other stuff is, it’s a lot for me.” 

“It’s part of who Eric is, Suzanne.” 

“I know. I know. I’m trying. You have to know that. That I’m trying.” She put down her mug and wiped her eyes “And I’m going to get better at all this, but it’s hard for me.” 

“I think you should tell him that.” Suzanne looked at Jack and gave him a wry smile. 

“You’re probably right. I think maybe I’ve been avoiding talking about it,” Jack resisted the urge to raise his eyebrow on “maybe” “because I’m terrified that I’ll say the wrong thing. I don’t want to lose him.” 

The door started to open, and Jack heard quiet voices in the hall. He looked at Suzanne. “Your son is an incredibly loving and loyal person. I don’t think you could lose him if you tried. Not that you should try.” Suzanne laughed softly. Her eyes were on the doorway, her fingers drummed nervously on her knee. Jack reached out and held her hand. She looked at him, and he saw a look of recognition that reminded him of Bitty in her eyes. “Talk to him.” He said. She nodded back. 

Bitty appeared in the doorway along with his father. He looked between Jack and his mother, his expression hopeful. Jack stood up. “I’m going to go to bed.” He said, giving Bitty and his parents some space. As he passed Eric, he put a hand on his shoulder “See you later, yeah?” He said, hoping that all the encouragement he wanted to give would be conveyed in those words. Eric understood. He smiled at Jack and squeezed his hand. “Yeah.” 

Jack walked down the hall to the bedroom, trying not to just give up halfway and slump against the wall. He was exhausted. When he arrived in their room and closed the door, he didn’t even bother undressing, just dropped onto the bed and closed his eyes. He lay there for a while, but despite his tiredness, he couldn’t sleep. Not until he knew that Eric was alright. He got up and got ready for bed. Then, he got his book and started to read, but his eyes kept sliding off the page, so eventually, he gave up. He looked around the room, hoping to find something to do. Thankfully, just then, his phone chimed. He grabbed it and waited for his eyes to focus on the screen. It was Shitty. 

“How are the in-laws?” the message read. 

“Fine.” Jack messaged. Instantly, the typing bubble appeared, rapidly replaced by a string of emojis. 

“Jack fucking Zimmerman answering his phone right away?” said Shitty “I’m honored.” Jack smiled.

“I’m waiting for Bitty. He’s talking to his parents.” 

“Rough. Wanna facetime?” 

“No, texting is fine.” He frowned. Perhaps that seemed rude. He sent another message “Bitty’s in the other room, I don’t want to disturb them.” Then, as an afterthought “Also I’m kind of tired.” 

“No need to explain, dude. All good.” Another string of emojis followed, then a picture of a duck. 

“That was Lardo.” Was the explanation. Jack lay back on his bed, chuckling a bit at his friends. It was comforting to know that some things never changed. The door opened slowly. Jack texted a quick goodbye to Shitty and Lardo, then looked up. Bitty closed the door behind him, then sat down on the bed. 

“Everything okay?” Jack asked. Bitty nodded. He fell backwards onto the bed with a sigh. Jack smiled, and slid down the bed to lay next to him. Bitty found Jack’s hand, and wound their fingers together. 

“It’s been a long day.” He said. Jack nodded. Bitty looked at him “I’m sorry you had to deal with all that.”

“It’s okay.” 

“No, it’s not.” 

“Yes, it is.” Jack tried to poor all the emotions he could into his words. Bitty understood. Jack meant what he was saying. 

Bitty moved over to put his head on Jack’s chest. “You’re a saint, Mr. Zimmerman.” 

“No,” Jack said with a goofy smile “just in love.” Bitty snorted and swatted his chest. They lay there for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence. 

“So, your talk went well?” Jack asked. Bitty nodded. 

“Better than I ever could have imagined. We’ve still got a long way to go- we haven’t really communicated well for a long time now- but at least we’re going somewhere. That’s a start.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was so much fun to write! Thank you for reading it:) 
> 
> I might be back with an epilogue at some point


End file.
